Olivia the wild!

We're not sure if Olivia is actually crazier than our other two kids, or if it's more that we are just busier as we have more kids to divide our time and attention.  But that girl is high maintenance!!! 

 

This was her...after she climbed the ladder by HERSELF!!!  I heard the backdoor open, so I quickly finished whatever I was doing and went outside.  I glanced around and didn't see where Olivia went, until I spotted her at the top of the ladder climbing in the clubhouse!  She has also been found climbing the piano bench and sitting on it to play the piano, on top of the toilet (lid down just sitting there!), and also hanging from the kitchen table in attempt to climb up on a bench. 

 

Of course she is such a delight and we love her dearly!  Steve had the opportunity to spend the day with her last week while the other kids and I were at group solutions!  They had great fun running errands and going out for lunch!

 

And now that we realize how crazy she can be, we are taking some precautionary measures and setting up fun, safe things for her to enjoy! 

The Latest

It's really hard to believe that spring has sprung and the month of March is already almost over!  Where does the time go?  I guess it flies by when we're having fun!  We have stayed busy with just our normal life routine...combined with all three kids catching the cold that seems to be going around!

 

Olivia has a real love for books!  Taking her to the library was fun as she wanted to "read" so many different books!

 

Faith continues to do well with school.  Her favorite subject is still science, and lately she has been having fun creating her own experiments!  In this picture she was testing what material would best hold up a marble over a cup of water! 

 

And with the great weather all three kids have been spending much of the day outside. Of course Olivia thinks she can do whatever the big kids do - including ride a bike! 

 

Last Tuesday night was Drive in movie night at Awana! It's the night the kids look forward to the most, and the night the parents dread the most!  Making a "car" for each of the kids out of a box is a real chore for parents who are not by nature very crafty or creative!  Thankfully the kids aren't too picky and just go with whatever we come up with to be their "car"!

 

Steve found a great new place for tacos!  We have been there the past two Saturday nights for dinner!  It's great as it's very casual and family friendly - key aspects when taking three kids, especially the baby!  The kids love the flan!

Summer Weekend in March

With temperatures around 80 degrees, it was very fitting that we had two BBQs to go to this weekend!  Saturday evening my friend Melissa had some friends over for an impromptu get together.  It's so much fun when not only are the adults friends but the kids are as well!

 

Olivia and I!  She had fun, but Melissa has three dogs at her house and Olivia was not a fan!!  She expected them to run away from her like our cat does!  Instead she learned dogs want to play and jump!

 

Sunday afternoon and evening we were invited to the birthday party and bbq of boy in our church.  The kids had a blast in the jolly jump!  They too had dogs, but Olivia did much better!

 

This was the bummer of the weekend.  The old lady hit the van while we were driving home from the Reagan museum.  Thankfully we are all completely fine!!  The kids were scared, but since I was stopped as I saw her entering my lane of traffic, it was low impact.  Never a dull moment!

Visit to the Reagan Museum

After nine years of living in Ventura county, we finally made it to the Reagan Museum!  We went with a group of our homeschool friends and had a great time!  While I need to go back so I can actually read the plaques and examine things a bit more, it was interesting, informative, and interactive!  Faith looks like a natural giving an inaugural address!  Naturally she now wants to become the president when she grows up!

Shane too had to practice giving his speech!

 

This is Faith reading lines to act in a scene with President Reagan!  She was the first brave one of our group to do this fun activity.  After she went of course all the other kids wanted to try it too!

 

Seeing Air Force One was a highlight!  We were able to walk through the plane, but were not allowed to take any pictures.  There was also a Marine One helicopter to tour. 

 

The kids all enjoyed the "Reaganomics" games in which they could invest money and learn how investing over time is rewarding!

 

What's a visit to the museum without a horse ride with Mr. President himself?!?  If you have not been to this beautiful museum and you have the opportunity, I highly suggest that you go!  I look forward to going back again soon!

Once again...catching up!

It feels as though the past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind!  Preparing for our camping trip took quite a bit of work and advanced planning!  In the week following our trip we had wonderful visits from Grandma Poelstra and Aunt Joan and Grandpa and Grandma Bruinsma!  We loved seeing all four of them, but it once again made for an unusually busy week!  Finally this week was more "normal", but after feeling like this week too was jam packed, I've come to realize that this is just our phase of life!  Especially since there is a one year old in our house!  She sure is a doll, but she keeps us on our toes!

 

In preparation for Grandpa and Grandma's visit, Faith wanted to fill the house with snow flakes so they would feel at home!  I tried to explain their desire to escape the snow, but as one who is in it for a week a year and loves it, she had a hard time understanding that!

 

Last Friday we went to the zoo as it was a gorgeous day!  We had the chance to hear three different animal talks, which was really interesting!  And it was fun to see the gorillas up close!

 

The kids are still pretty Star Wars obsessed!  Since Disney is producing the next three Star Wars movies, Star Wars paraphernalia is now at the Disney Store!  Shane was thrilled that we found some Darth Vader pjs for him!  I think he wore them five nights in a row!!

 

Faith has been into wearing her hair in different styles lately.  This past week she wore a ponytail two days, pig tails two days, and today she asked for two braids in her hair!  It's been fun for both of us!

 

And sweet Olivia loves to get into anything and everything!  Of course some of her favorite things are her big brother and sister's toys they do not let her have!  When they are gone, she usually heads straight for those toys!

 

She also loves to pretend with dishes and my kitchen gadgets!  Playing outside is her most favorite thing to do, especially to go in the play house and bring us a plate and a utensil!  She really is becoming more and more fun!

 

Tonight these two were my kitchen helpers.  After Olivia went to bed, we baked chocolate chip cookies together!  It's fun to be able to bake with them as they actually can be helpful now!

Desert Camping 2014

This past weekend was our annual camping trip to the desert with our friends!  As always it was quite the adventure!  Not being a natural camper, it's always a challenge for me to be in that type of environment!  This year Olivia's stage of life increased the challenge quite a bit!  She is just everywhere and into everything, which I am used to at home, but in a trailer is another thing! 

 

She really embraced the dirt and loved it, which forced me to do the same!  One of her favorite things to do was just scoop up dirt and try to put it in the nearest trailer!  We tried to coach her into picking up dirt or rocks and putting it into a pail!  What a huge load of laundry I am working on as a result of her love of the dirt! 

 

Both Faith and Shane really had fun riding the quads once again!  Unfortunately I did not get a close up picture of Faith!  They did really well and both liked to go fast!

 

Olivia thought the quad was fun too!  She called them "beep beeps" as that is what she calls her riding toy at home!  Don't worry!!  Of course she did not actually ride on one!  Sitting on the quad was fun enough for her!

 

While it is always fun to see all the kids play together, it was especially fun to see some of the older girls take a liking to Olivia and watching out for her!

 

Karlene was great about having fun activities for the kids!  Here they are creating things out of gum drop candies and toothpicks!

 

Passing time in the truck, Olivia played peek-a-boo with me! 

Tea Parties!

 As Olivia continues to grow and show us more of her personality, we are seeing the she may become quite the girly-girl!  And I love it!  She loves dolls, accessorizing, and most recently tea parties!  She has always loved to play outside, but now in addition to going on the swing, slide, and trampoline, she spends quite a bit of time playing in the play house and making me tea!  And while I was having an incredibly busy day trying to get us ready to leave for camping the next morning, last Thursday we played outside together and had a little tea party and just enjoyed the moment!

 

I was told by a friend that an important element I need to incorporate with my girls and their tea parties is to make sure that they ask the question, "And how is your mother?"

 

In addition to having tea parties, Olivia is really into brushing her teeth!  What is funny is that I remember Faith having the same obsession!  I think it feels good with the molars breaking through the gums!  And for Olivia, any chance to do something the big kids are doing is very exciting!  In this picture she is using Shane's toothbrush, but give her any toothbrush these days and she is a happy girl!

 

My cutie Shane!  He's not into posing for pictures these days, so I have to post this one that he let me take!

 

And this is what happens when the kids decide to play all together in their room!  I love the few minutes it gives me to actually sit down, but the ensuing mess is always shocking!  They sure can have a great time together!